Charred Sasuke
by Now Entering The Twilight Zone
Summary: Sasuke leads his group off to the village hidden in the Sleep on a mission to find a Great Beast of Legend. This also happens to be someone from Sasuke's past who Karin isn't exactly exultant to greet. However, of course, there would be some complications to the Uchiha's plans in which he did not account for...
1. Why are we here again?

A deep rumble rolled throughout the outskirts of the Land of Fire. Smoke arose in two billowing plumes from the peak of a rocky, hollow mountain. The gentle breeze that brushed calmly past the leaves of shrubbery nearby was rudely interrupted every five seconds or so by either a rushing wind inwards, towards the mysterious mountain, or outwards, towards the retreating shore line that would soon be returning for the Land of Mist. Wildlife had long since abandoned the area, from the smallest of insects to the strongest of predators, from fear of being eaten, assuming that fate hadn't already befallen them. Only plant life was brave enough to grow outside the bubble of radiating heat the surrounded the mountain, outside the death zone filled with scorched trunks or a fog of charcoal that was created by the wind wearing it away from its origin. The closer the organisms were from the hollow mountain, the more burnt and crispy things became.

Four sets of footsteps trailed along the overgrown, forgotten path towards the hollow mountain that had long ago been dubbed as the Snoring Mountain by outsiders, yet neighbouring clans would tell you that the Forbidden Mountain is a topic not even the bravest would tell tales about.

One set of heavy, yet tentative footsteps belonged to a large man, whose actions and mannerisms would indicate that he had spent many years of his life staying away from human interaction. However, despite the obvious threat of the large man, a dainty squirrel sat perched on one of his broad shoulders, carefully chewing through a lightly charred hazelnut. Blinking his bright red eyes, trying to readjust to the dimming Suns light as it made its escape over the horizon, combing a heavy hand through bright orange, knotted hair.

He turned his head to the albino that walked slumped over beside him, feet dragging, only just keeping the pace set. The straight-haired albino had his slightly muscled arms drooping in front whilst he walked, in an almost ape-like manor. The oversized sword that was buckled to his back was the only thing that stopped the boy from doubling over and probably falling asleep there and then. Dull purple irises, glazed over with boredom, imprecisely scanned the surroundings. Words tumbled from his mouth past sharp, pointed teeth, in a repetitive manor, yet simply went unnoticed by the rest of the group.

Finally, the strawberry-haired girl seemed to have had enough of the albino's complaining and began yelling and ranting at him as to how they had only been walking for five minutes. Her glasses slipped along the bridge of her nose whilst her arms flailed dangerously about her person. Eyes that matched her hair were filled his rage and feminine spite at the younger, currently weaker looking male.

After a whole eight seconds of the girl hollering bloody murder at the smaller male, the black haired boy who was walking ahead of them turned his pale head towards them.

"Karin, that's enough."

Apparently, this sent a message clear as day as the strawberry-haired girl and the albino boy both straightened up and zipped their mouths tightly shut.

Something was different about the black-haired boy. His footsteps were silent, they left no track nor scent that led back to him. It was as if he was never there to begin with. The boy was a ghost, a feather-light mark on the world he lived in, passing through unnoticed by anyone until too late. Like a snake in the grass.

He was dangerous, unlike the other three. They could sense it. They understood. No remorse. No emotion. The pale skinned, dark haired boy seethed hatred throughout his entire being. The boy made even the strongest amongst them nervous, and the weakest run for the hills.

In the silence that had stalked upon them after the boy's sharp words, the group remembered the old folk tale that the decrepit and alarmingly stale smelling old lady had told them. After having walked so far that the albino's legs had literally become unsteady, undulating tubes of water, only to then be told that their journey was for nothing, that what they were looking for was in another mountain, far away, somewhere they'll never be able to reach. The story would have seemed believable, too, had the bag of wrinkles not thrown her head back in a toothless, gaping cackle and started rambling about the fairies.

"Follow the fairies, Uchiha, follow them…" She gave the leader of the group a knowing look with blind, hazed eyes, "and you'll find her. Oh, you'll find her alright." She began to laugh again and her very nervous looking granddaughter let out a waterfall of apologies flow past her beautiful, pink lips, whilst delicate hazel eyes scan the room for something to look at other than a certain albino's flirtatious gaze. Although, considering how her eyes would occasionally flicker back to the persistently staring violet orbs and how it would appear that her entire body would flush the same colour as the groups only female's hair each time made it hard to believe that it was harassment, as the strawberry-hair woman would say whilst clocking the smaller boy over the head with her hand. The albino didn't mind, however, as whenever this happened, the short girl would twiddle her hip length black hair and giggle lightly to the side, hiding her smile in her mildly curled locks. When this happened, his own mouth would twitch upwards subconsciously, until he remembered his teeth and that it probably would be such a good idea to flash a smug grin, as saddening as that was for him.

"Hey, Sasuke? Why did the village Elder say 'her'? I thought we were looking for a great beast of legend?" The orange haired male said, placing a large hand on the leader named Sasuke when he turned to leave. With his back turned to the rest of his group, no one could see how his pupils dilated and constricted. They couldn't see how his eyes flickered around the room for any evidence of a mirror or reflection. They couldn't see how his lips twitched open and closed as words lost him.

Of course Sasuke wouldn't tell them what they were doing at the Forbidden Mountain, tucked away in the village hidden in the Sleep. There was no way that everyone in the group would have agreed to travel miles on end, going through dangerous terrain, putting their lives on the line with Sleep Bandits and the poisonous gasses that randomly erupt from certain parts of the cracked earth, just for the sake of either finding instant, smouldering death, or just to find "one weirdo chick from your emo, depressing childhood", as a certain, beaten and bruised albino would state every few minutes. This was, naturally, countered by a violent sucker punch to the face.

"Ow ow ow! Karin, I think you broke my nose!"

"Serves you right, you idiot! If Sasuke wants to find someone from his childhood for whatever reason," Karin practically hissed the reasoning, and emphasising the 'whatever' "then you shouldn't have anything to complain about. Why are you even here, anway?"

"What is this; "pick on Suigetsu day"? Yeah, yeah, take your sexual frustration out on me, why don't you. Just because you can't get into Sasuke's pants don't mean that-"

"I do not! I just-"

"What is it, Jugo." Sasuke, who was walking ahead of Suigetsu and Karin, who were now arguing with reddened faces, with the orange haired boy at his side, muttered with a static expression. The silence in the air between the two reserved males. The unspoken questions boiled inside of Jugo whilst coherent sentences stuttered and stumbled upon themselves in Sasuke's head.

"Well, Sasuke, when you said 'Great Beast of Legend', you really just meant a friend of yours?" Jugo was struggling to keep the ever increasing pace that Sasuke was now walking. 'He's never usually like this. Normally, we just walk a leisurely pace. Is something wrong with him?'

"No. She's not my friend. And if you're implying that I lied to you-"

"Huh? No! No, no, don't get me wrong, Sasuke. I'm not implying anything, it's just that…when we set out on this mission I, and the others, were under the impression that we were after some sort of monster or a tailed beast." Jugo waved his hands in front of his chest, as if it could dispel the biting words that came from the leader's sharp mouth. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. This was not the reaction he wanted. And he really didn't want to have to deal with a brooding Sasuke.

"Then why discuss it. You have no problem with what I'm doing, do you?"

Jugo was stumped. Was he purposefully avoiding the subject? Sasuke doesn't generally bite his head off like that, especially when it was such a minor question. This was bad. Sasuke was typically hard to read and handle on a good day, but there was something horribly bad with him today. No one in the group could squeeze a word in without being interrogated or argued with today. He seemed that, if he wasn't spewing sharp words at others, Sasuke was going out of his way to utter as little syllables as possible. Did he not trust the group anymore? Or was there something he was hiding? Perhaps it was just the heat getting to them all. Jugo could feel his clothes sticking to his skin and his entire body was coated in a light sheen of sweat, and it was only getting worse the closer they got the the mountain. Give it a few minutes and Suigetsu was in serious danger of starting to evaporate.

"No. Sorry."

"Good."

And that was the end of the conversation.

'How embarrassing…' Sasuke grumbled in his mind. 'Being questioned by my own group. I didn't make it obvious, so why are they suddenly so interested in my personal life?' He stopped walking at the base of the mountain. The deep, rumbling vibrations made the group under his feet tremble. "We'll rest here. 5 minutes maximum." He pulled over a charred tree trunk that had long since fallen. His dark, ominous eyes scanned the group, however everyone appeared to be avoiding his threatening gaze. Probably for the best. 'And it's not like I lied to them, either. I mean, there was a time when she was my friend. But, then, of course, I had to ruin it. The only proper friendship I ever had with a girl.' He closed his eyes in exasperation. 'How could I have been so stupid? I should have seen the line. I pushed her away, and for what? Some foolish crush? I'm such an idiot."

An albino head suddenly lifted his arm from his eyes.

"Did anyone just hear the mountain snore?"


	2. Karin and her pride (not proof read)

"_Es ist wie das spiel mit bauklötzen_

_Ich mauere mit steinen vorsichtig_

_Es ist wie das spiel mit bauklötzen_

_Ich sehe meinen leeren baukasten an"_

A soft, almost inaudible sound drifted from the tip of the mountain, reaching into the minds of the four ninjas who were resting at the bottom. It made their skin tingle and a faint pressure to form behind their eyes, making it harder for them to see. Their senses were extremely acute:

They could see the light grooves that were sprinkled only the mountain's side, in Jugo's opinion they seemed suspiciously like claw markings of an animal who was stating its territory.

They could smell the miasma of putrid flesh, perhaps once belonging to humans, the seemed to seep slowly towards them in an invisible cloud of rot.

They could taste the embers and coal being kicked up by the gentlest of breezes, which currently felt rather violent on the sticky, sweat-coated skin of the ninjas.

In fact, the air felt exceedingly scorching. What was once a somewhat smothering warm that, with Suigetsu, deemed the air as unimportantly humid. The sudden sensitivity increase to temperature for the quad almost made the liquid-boy loose his form due to the water he was made from expanding from heat.

_Thump. Thump._

_Thump. Thump._

They could hear the distant, rhythmic beating of a large heart somewhere imbedded inside the mountain.

Black, glowing markings began to creep along Jugo's tanned skin, drawing together and forming a stone-like exoskeleton. Sasuke's eyelids lifted gently and his shadowy irises swirled slowly. Red arose, blotting out the black, like someone had dripped crimson dye into blackened water. The bite marks that were strewn along Karin's arms and chest became inflamed, even though they had healed long ago, and dents caused by chakra-hungry teeth were forming by the second. Drops of water trickled down onto the dried, brittle ground as it seeped steadily from Suigetsu's facial orifices. His ears, nostrils, mouth, and tear ducts were leaking the water he was made of.

The effects left as suddenly as they had come.

The four ninjas blinked. Several times, rubbing their sore eyes with the palms of their hands or the collars of their shirts. They were resting in the same position as they had been earlier, and their clothes were still in the same state of wind movement, it was as if no time had passed during the episode in which they had stayed motionless, displaying their best jutsus for anyone to see. Jugo's curse mark, Karin's chakra expertise, Suigetsu's mastery over his body's manipulation of water release, Sasuke's developed sharingan; all on show for anyone who strolled past to see. It had been perfectly executed, they group didn't remember the event, of course, because they hadn't technically been there. Their consciousness had been forced into a slumber so deep, not even trailing hands could wake them. This left their body's to have an indescribable need to fend for themselves in the best way they could, trying desperately to avoid the obvious danger that walked between them as they were frozen, who was checking and double checking all information that could possibly be gained from the situation. The perfect situation. The perfect execution. Perfection.

"_Du brichst meine mauer arglos mit schmutzigen händen_" A sentence that no one had heard, excusing the only one awake at the time it was spoken; the speaker. A wasted sentence, a wasted bout, a wasted breathe. But it was used in the perfect situation, with perfect execution. No one to hear, yet the meaning still carried through, as was intended. The breath that brushed against Sasuke's face, accentuating each word, made his devouring eyes loose temper, only slightly less than they used to, but nevertheless was readable to those who were there to read.

The wanderer was as susceptible to the jutsu as the listeners, being closest to the libretto would naturally mean having a superior effect dawn upon the severance of the jutsu. The wanderer didn't linger around for long enough for the impression of the jutsu to be portrayed, however, halfway up the mountain side, there was a brief pause as ambiguity rushed through their being like a tidal wave, it felt similar to the dogfight in your mind that occurs when you're walking away from a room that you don't recollect the reason you went into in the first place. You always have the nagging feeling that you're missing something, that you're not remembering the obvious. That you've lost something. That you've left something behind. There was a reason why you went into that room, and you know it, you just cannot, for the life of you, reminisce over what it was. You know this. You know you're missing something that you were so desperate to get your hands on not a minute earlier. Yet you leave anyway, and you don't look back into that room. There's no point turning back, you don't even know why you were there in the first place. It means nothing to you. Right? Right. There is absolutely no reason for you to be in that room whatsoever other than to contemplate and mull over why you even thought there would be something useful in that room at all. The room is useless right now.

So, you leave. You leave and don't turn back.

And just like that, after a moment's hesitation as to why they were halfway up the mountain's side, they continued. They continued without a care in the world, as if it were just the average day. They continued and they didn't look back.

What had even happened? Of course, nothing had happened in all technicality. But, in the experience of the quad that had only just lifted their body's weight off of their feet, they felt as if they had been in the same position for at least half an hour, minimum.

Karin sensed it. Her ability to concentrate on and control chakra meant that she could understand when certain jutsus had been used on her or the people around her. She could suspect when a genjutsu's blanket had been thrown over her eyes. It was a faint sense. Barely there. Barely visible to her. But it was there, she could sense it. Something was wrong. Her body felt wrong. It was too rested for someone who had only just sat down. It didn't seem to have bothered anyone else, though, they were all functioning as if it were the casual occurrence. The Sun was in the same place. The wind was in the same motion as it had been when she had begun to sit, legs tucked under neither her. She knew it had happened to the others, too, because she could see the relaxation in everyone else's chakra. Before, when they had been walking, and especially when the heat had grown more intense as they marched closer to the mountain, the chakra levels were tense and taunt to reflect the feelings of the physical body. It just wasn't right, and Karin didn't understand, she felt like her brain was rotting while trying to wrap it around the thought of a genjutsu in play. Questions that littered her mind, like:

**Was that an actual genjutsu?**

**If so, how long where we under it?**

**What happened when we were under its effects?**

**Was it cast by someone who meant us harm?**

**Where was the ninja who cast it and why can't I see their chakra?**

But it left her head stinging after every though until she couldn't form a coherent thought anymore because-

The heat felt so numbing. Sweat covered her entire body. This heat that hazed throughout the land left her eyes stinging and her muscles aching, as if they had been held in the same position for hours. Every time she inhaled the toxically broiling air, it made her head throb painfully, making it incredibly hard to think straight. She held her forehead with her left arm whilst feebly punching Suigetsu's raised arm. It was too hot. Too hot to be sitting on her legs. Far too hot to worry is the burnt-out tree remnants were going to stick to or stain her trousers. Kicking her legs forward into a more comfortable position that, considering her current proximity space with Sasuke and the un-ladylike fashion in which her legs were strewn wide, screamed a totally and utter lack of time to shame and embarrassment any more. It was too hot to worry about what Sasuke would think if he opened his lazy-ass eyes and actually looked at her for a change.

'Lately it's been all about this _girl_. This girl who probably won't even _remember_ him. After all, Sasuke _did_ say that they weren't even friends, so they _can't_ have been close. Not as close as me and Sasuke are _now_. So close, I can _touch_ him if I want, he wouldn't complain. He _bites_ me if he wants to. And _I know_ that he likes it as much as I do, I can hear him. _That's_ how close he and I are. There's no way that girl could _possibly_ measure herself relationship wise, there's no way that this mystery girl that's never _once _been brought up in conversation could even _begin_ to think she stands a chance at besting _me._ I-'

"Owwie, Karin, you punched one of my bruises…." Suigetsu muttered to himself, apparently, as it appeared that no one else was actually paying any attention to the two of them. 'Shame, I could have made a show of punching her back in retaliation for being such a grumpy-ass, but I guess since no one watching, no one will see my awesome combat skills. He dropped his arm to the side, his question well and truly ignored by even Jugo, who usually leaps at the opportunity to answer a question or, as he put it, "be helpful and kind to those around him".

Jugo looked around. Suigetsu was right, something did just sound very much like a huge, animalistic snore. What was happening here? Perhaps it was just the mountain creating more of that splurging heat, the Earth's crust becoming magma under their feet and inside of the very mountain they were standing next to. He cast a glance towards his leader, who still had his eyes shut. They were twitching behind his eyelids, so one reason or another. Was something bothering him? Jugo had already asked once and had his head bitten off by a peeved Sasuke, yet, in spite of everything, the taller man had no idea what was eating away at his leader. It had been bothering him, bothering him because Sasuke usually didn't show emotions to the group but when he did there was a logical explanation, apart from today. Today he had just woken up angry and it only got worse from there.

"Stop worrying all the time, Jugo. I'm fine." Came the lowly toned voice of Sasuke, which honestly surprised Jugo a little, because the Uchiha didn't generally concern himself with what others thought. It was his thoughts, and his thoughts alone that mattered to him. No one else would make a dent in the wall of hatred and despise that he had built around himself. Not even Jugo, mostly. So how did he…?

Sasuke opened his eyes and looked up at Jugo like a predator not letting its prey out of sight. Two crimson orbs glared up at him menacingly. Jugo nodded. Of course. The only reason Sasuke would close his eyes in a place he was uncomfortable with would be to scan the area with his sharingan first, to check that the group hadn't just stumbled into an unsafe area. He smiled to himself. As if Sasuke would lead them into a dangerous area without them knowing. No, Sasuke was too skilled a ninja to just unwillingly blunder into a trap. 'Sasuke's too skilled to even make a blunder, let alone into something that would risk himself and the group.'

The next time Jugo scanned Sasuke for any emotion that had accidentally leaked onto his facial features, his eyes were closed again and his face was as stoic as ever.

"We should move." The gloomy voice sliced through the silence, taking everyone by surprise. He had still failed to open his eyes and actually look at his group, he had failed to even acknowledge their existences or their presence by simply not being concerned enough to allow the group to read his true emotions.

"What?! We've only been here for a couple minutes!" An irritated Suigetsu gabs back, sitting up in one swift motion.

"Trust me." We all the Uchiha said, making to get up. Suigetsu grabs the Demon Hunter's sword from beside him and thrusts it into Sasuke's face.

"No, you listen, Uchiha. You said we could stay five minutes. It's only been two and a half, max. You cannot deny me my other two and half minutes of rest after walking all this way and almost melting on numerous occasions!" His voice sounded sour and irritated, as if Sasuke had just woken a toddler from its afternoon naptime.

"Suigetsu, you don't have to come with us." Was all the boy said, before turning and leisurely pacing to the base of the mountain's side, lifting his foot and placing it on the rocky surface. "In fact, if you're so content on not moving, I'll tie you to a tree and let you evaporate." Chakra welled at the bottom of his feet and stuck the mountain. "Either way, I don't care." One step, two steps, three steps, and Sasuke was horizontal in comparison to the other ninjas beside him. Once he had made it clear that he wasn't stopping whether or not the rest followed suit or just stayed where they were, they quickly leapt to their feet and began awkwardly running up the side of the scorching hot mountain rock to catch up.


End file.
